Jagannath Adhikari on Nepal’s Rising Dependence on Food Imports

From being a food net exporter, Nepal became a food net importer in a matter of a few decades. Whilst agriculture is the mainstay for the majority of the Nepali population, the markets are flooded with imported agricultural commodities. Only recently, farmers in Chitwan staged a protest against the unfair market price for local production due to high imports of goods from India. In today’s episode, PEI colleague Lasata Joshi sits with Dr. Jagannath Adhikari to discuss Nepal’s growing dependence on food imports. Dr. Jagannath is a human geographer and holds a Ph.D. in Human Geography from The Australian National University. He is currently associated with The Curtin University of Technology, Perth, Australia, where he is an Adjunct Research Fellow, and with the Nepal Institute of Development Studies (NIDS) as a Senior Researcher. He has carried out a great deal of research on themes like food systems, agricultural development, land reform and management, participatory forest management, biodiversity, urban environment and climate change and food security, and migration and development. In today's episode, Lasata and Dr. Jagannath talk about how an increase in reliance on food imports is a threat to Nepal’s national sovereignty. They also explain how, while being predominantly an agricultural economy, the country's food import transactions have expanded in recent decades. Click here to support us on Patreon!!